The Japanese Geishas are true masters of entertainment. Highly skilled, elegant and wearing the most refined and expensive kimonos decked with antique accessories; it is no wonder Japan’s most iconic ladies are always in demand. As always, only the wealthy and influential are entertained by Geisha and Maiko at Kyoto’s Ocha-ya (teahouses).
In fact, even most local Japanese people have never experienced Geisha entertainment in an Ocha-ya. This is because the teahouses are not cheap and they have the traditional rule of refusing the people who are new to their premises. The tradition is that they value the customer’s credit. By limiting the customers to people who can be trusted, they prevent violations of manners at the Ocha-ya and protect the Geishas.
These photos are from a time not too long ago, near Christmas - a time when I am usually in Kyoto and when my Geisha friends and I do our frequent meet ups.
On this day, we have a lunch date with the new Maiko TomiHoshi.
TomiHoshi is the youngest Geisha in my circle of friends. She is very pretty, extremely witty and always full of smiles and energy.
And it seems that every time I see her, we have plenty of good food around. We had traditional sweets together the last time we visited the temples as well.
In Japanese, the word Hoshi (星) is a Japanese word which means star.
On this day, one of my best friends and a celebrity aesthetics doctor from Singapore was in town so we decided to check out all the popular eating places together. I am always amazed by what wonderful fine dining stuff we can find in these dainty little streets where my Geisha friends hangout...
Yes, a glimpse into some of my very normal lifestyle whenever I am in Kyoto...hanging out with my Geisha friends, visiting my ancestral temple, spending time at the local bookstores and cd shops, trying out the some of the runway pieces from my favourite boutiques, checking out all the great eating places and of course finding time to do a little photos in the time between.